Something New: September Takeover #2!

Hey folks!  This is the second September takeover post for the month, so I sat down to write this as soon as I came home from teaching.  Your suave, handsome (okay Joanna says I'm being self-absorbed) host for the evening is none other than Walter.

I could talk about my day, but I have a couple of larger bones to pick about this week.  I'll try not to rant like the girls (Joanna or Alison...or even my sister Lex) would.

There were two pretty big dates this week: 9/10 being the national day of awareness for suicide prevention, and 9/11 being the 17th anniversary of the U.S. terror attacks.

I think both of these dates are important ones to remember.  Especially after what happened with Jo's brother.  While I don't know whether he overdosed on purpose or not, and I won't ask Jo about it because I don't want to make her upset, his death was a sampling of what thousands of families have to deal with because of suicide.  Sudden loss is horrible to begin with; purposeful death adds a palpable heaviness to it all.  But there's a way out, I promise.  Whether you're dealing with the loss of a loved one or suicidal thoughts yourself, I promise you're not alone and God is there, wanting you to let Him in so healing can begin.  I don't know, Alison would've been better for this, but just know that God is there for you and things get better.

Don't tell Alison I said she would've done a better job than me.

Secondly, let's not forget 9/11/01 and the lives lost when the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania turned into mass graves and a battle cry for the fight against terrorism.  With the growing threat of ISIS, we can't lose sight of that day.  Especially not the younger generations: at 21, I can remember watching when the planes hit. But kids just a couple of years younger than I...well, they just don't.  They don't know about growing up with that day seared in their minds, that deep-pitted knowledge that even though you were just a kid, you still knew something horrible and evil had just happened.  They know the war on terror as a vague thing that is reported on once in awhile and criticized on TV.  They might know it from the videos replayed once a year, but they don't know it, you know?  Kind of like World War II.  You read about it, but it's removed.  So let's make sure that, in the generation of ISIS and Middle-Eastern unrest, that we stand strong as a country and refuse to lose sight of what was sacrificed and what makes our country worth the effort.

I don't know, I suppose I was supposed to promote the new book in some way, but I just had that on my mind this week and I thought I'd say something about that instead.

What are your thoughts - on both topics here?